Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
The Mijikenda Kaya Forests, Kenya, have recently been awarded world heritage status. There are 11 smaller forests included in the Mijikenda (which means 9 homesteads), and they all contain the sacred remains of fortified villages known as Kayas. The 11 sacred forests are spread across 200km down The South coast of Kenya. These Kayas date back to the 16th centaury, and were abandoned in the mid 1900’s. The locals believe that their ancestors dwell in these Kayas and therefore are determined to protect them, and their surrounding forests.
The destruction of these forests has resulted in strong criticism of the local Government Officials, and the local elders are determined to protect what is left of their sacred forests. The recent decision to make the Mijikenda Kayas World Heritage Sites is a welcome relief and we hope that this will help the elders to be able to protect these wonderful and unique forests. The Colobus Trust has been working with the Kaya Elders around the area to protect these forests by replanting, education and trying to prevent logging in the Kayas. These sites are important to the Colobus Trust not just because they are some of the few areas of undamaged forests around Diani and along Kenya’s south coast, but also because at the moment we have not yet had the opportunity to fully research the Colobus populations in these areas. If by doing the research we found that the forests contained a high number of Colobus we would be able to help further with the protection of these beautiful and ancient sites.
There are many rare plants that have been found in the Kayas and there have been a few comprehensive plant surveys that have been conducted in the different Kayas, but at present there have been no surveys into the local primate populations in the Mijikenda Kayas. It is not feasible for the Colobus Trust to be able to conduct the projects themselves due to the time commitment that is required, which would prevent the trust from fulfilling its other responsibilities around Diani and the local areas. The Colobus Trust had aimed, along with volunteers from Camp Kenya to survey these Kayas and record the number of Colobus and other monkeys living in the Kayas. The project is still in it’s infancy so is adapting all the time, the Camp Kenya students are enthusiastic, and willing to work hard, but the main problem is, they are not scientists. They are interested in working with the Colobus Trust and learning about surveys, but they also want to have fun with the work they are doing.
To produce a comprehensive, accurate and reliable survey those conducting it need to have relevant training and experience, along with determination and dedication. In short it needs to be conducted by scientists with appropriate field research skills and an interest in primate conservation. The type of research which would be required for a full survey of these areas is better suited to someone/a group of people interested in conducting a proper research project in this area for a research paper or as a PhD or Masters thesis. This does not mean that the work with Camp Kenya is being stopped, but I am suggesting that it might be better if the programme were edited to take into account the abilities and limitations of the students and staff at Camp Kenya and the boundaries of what The Colobus Trust itself is able to do.
It is obvious that the work with Camp Kenya will never be considered scientifically accurate, so rather than doing unreliable transects, I think that it would be more productive to have the students continue to learn what we do, continue to learn about all types of surveys and then along with the Colobus Trust staff and the Kaya elders conduct a sweep survey within the Kayas. This way they can cover a wider area, get a general feel for what surveys are about, work with the Kaya elders within the forests, and are more likely to see Colobus and other monkeys. This information can still be recorded, and analysed, and then when someone comes out to do a proper, scientifically designed survey they can use the information from the Camp Kenya sweep surveys to help their research. It is therefore important that we continue to work with the students at Camp Kenya, with a program more suited to the abilities of the students and that we find people that are committed and capable of doing reliable and accurate transects within the Kayas around Diani and the local area.
We would therefore be able to produce a comprehensive survey of the resident primate populations in these undeveloped and relatively unstudied forests and gain a clearer picture of the current status of the Colobus and other primates in the area. This would enable us to develop our conservation of this endangered and beautiful creature in the best possible way, and help to protect the Mijikenda Kaya Forests. For more information on the Mijikenda Kaya Forests and other World Herritage Sites please visit : http://whc.unesco.org/en/news/453
Emma Shepheard – Walwyn (Colobologist)
A wet, yet fun, two weeks since my arrival at the trust. Several days have been spent out with the casuals searching the woodlands for snares. On one outing we found more than 10 snares, the next day we found none, but that is probably better news. After several days at the cottage I hadn’t caught sight of the colobus monkeys and was wondering whether man’s encroachment in Diani had finally got the better of them, but at the end of the week we went out on the colobus check and totaled 37 individuals, divided into 5/6 troops. We even saw some making use of the colobridges - nice. Some of the highlights of last week included the successful capture and release of a python invading a local resort. I am told that snakes (whether poisonous or not) are viewed as dangerous pests by most of the locals. They are therefore normally dispatched immediately. To get this one out of harms way was good news for our serpentine friend; if only monkey capture and release were so simple! During our outreach programme our young volunteer Claire (who comes from Seattle (with her parents!)) proved popular with the local kids. We visited Mkokoni School, on route to Mombasa. This school had a great programme dedicated to tree conservation. The children were knowledgeable of trees and their roles in ecosystems and in many ways in speaking of the ills of deforestation we were preaching to the converted, but they enjoyed learning more about how they could help the primates of Diani.
It was on a Sunday morning and there were only the two of us, myself and Gwili. Everything was okay at the trust when suddenly there was a series of loud noises made by Baboons jumping on our cottage roof. When the baboon realized that we were approaching, it dropped the kitten and we delivered it to our vet just to make sure that the kitten was in good condition. For the most part it was, but it was starving. I rushed to the kitchen gave him some milk and a pinch of cat food. The kitten did not hesitate to eat and drink and within no time it was full and fell a sleep.
Shortly afterwards one of the board members, Miss Luciana, decided to pay visit with two of her friends from Nairobi. Her friends were very happy to see the kitten and even requested if it were possible for them to adopt the kitten, and as the Trust already have a cat there were no objections.
Now the kitten, named Nyani (the swahili for baboon), is in a much safer and happier environment because of the caring baboon who tried to nurture the abandoned stray. Peter Ndungu
One of our Trustees, Luciana, received an young, injured African Wood Owl late last week and she’s become our latest patient. We’ve named her Bundi (the Kiswahili for owl) and she was found caught in a trap in the forest. Unfortunately, during the days she was stuck in this trap, she tore the ligaments in one of her wings and thus loosing the ability to fly well. Our vet, Dr Allan, told us that she had around a 50% chance of being able to fly again. This is good news and we have since prepared a special enclosure for her in our quarantine area, with a nice perch and shelter from the sun’s rays. She is doing well, eating mincemeat and feathers every night, albeit with a bit of coersion. We will continue to care for this lovely animal and hope her wing heals well.
On behalf of everyone at the Trust (and every monkey in Diani) I would like thank everyone who has donated to us through Wildlife Direct. We are now confident that if this kind support continues we will be able to continue our road to recovery. Below we have named our most recent donors. So, a big thank you to: Kathy S With your support we are able to be there for monkeys like the little Sykes we received at the end of last week. Concerned residents brought us this monkey from just outside the Shimba Hills NR. Where they saw it being mistreated by some children.
The individual in question was an extremely sweet young male Sykes Monkey. Luckily when he was brought to us, apart from being a bit skinny and very tired, the only problem he had was a bad case of the hiccups! This soon cleared up after a nice meal of milk and glucose and the little guy was soon fast asleep hanging on to his surrogate mother, a towel. In the wild infants of his age are still carried everywhere by their mother. Unfortunately due to the situation of his origins we knew that, if still alive, his mother would be impossible to find. This put a release into his troop out of the question. So this, and the fact that he would not be accepted into another wild troop due to his gender, left us in a pickle. Thankfully Kerstin, a local Tiwi Beach resident, was on hand to save the day. She has raised many monkeys, with similar troubles, and introduced them to her resident troop of Vervet & Sykes Monkeys at her home. These are a welcoming collection of monkeys who’ve taken in many homeless monkeys such as ours. For this we also owe a massive thank you to Kerstin and look forward to updating you on the progress of this lucky monkey. Keep up the support! Gwili
During the last three days we have treated 5 monkeys, and observed a sixth, that have had wounds inflicted upon them by other members of their own species. Unfortunately, only two of these remain alive. Whilst back at the Trust we have struggled to understand why in just over 48 hours this has occurred? The only explanation we have is that the stress put upon these monkeys by the hottest time of the year, which has lead water and food shortages within the forest, has gotten too much for them. This has led confrontations to exacerbate rapidly. We hope that this is not a long-term issue, as we need to focus on problems caused by man, not by monkey. Therefore we would like to issue a passionate plea to all monkeys. Please stop fighting among yourselves, you are not the enemy. Hmm, kind of echoes our thoughts on another disagreement within another species of primate.
The festive season has been an interesting one here at the trust and it has certainly not been as relaxing as the Christmases I’m used to. On Christmas Eve we had to respond to a call about a Colobus infant that had been abandoned by its mother. By the time we got there the infant, previously resting on the ground, had been driven up a tree by dogs. We followed its movements for a while and although it moved slowly there were no visible signs of illness or harm. Soon it became more active and returned to its mother. On seeing this we decided its best chance of survival would be with the mother and left it to enjoy Christmas with the family! Christmas Day passed smoothly. We treated our Ex-Pet Vervet Monkeys to homemade vegetable ice-lollies for lunch, whilst the rest of us relaxed. On the 27th as the rest of the country flocked to the voting stations we prepared for our fundraiser. All was well until the evening when the fire broke out, though that is a different story (or blog). The fundraiser went exceptionally well, with attendance levels a lot higher than we expected given the circumstances. The wind was strong so the kite surfers were happy and the weather, as usual, was perfect. We sold over 300 raffle tickets and raised Ksh 54,000 from that alone. The rest of the money raised is yet to be calculated, so expect an update when we have the final total. Since then things have gotten complicated politically. But, don’t worry about us, we are fine and safe. The lack of Internet is our main adversary, but else wise all is good, for us at least. Wishing you a belated Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year from all at the Trust! Gwili
I’m sad to say that my days here at the Colobus Trust have come to an end. I’ve honestly never had a month go by so fast! It’s sad to admit to myself that I won’t be waking up to the beautiful Indian Ocean While, as a student, my days here were few, in just one short month I feel like I’ve done so much good for the Diani primate population and the community as a whole. Whether I was out hiking around the fragmented coastal forests tracking and monitoring Colobus troops, yielding a panga in the hot sun to clear vegetation from the dangerous, un-insulated power lines, finding and destroying snares set around the forest, or just sitting in the office preparing a review of the Good Woods initiative, I never went to sleep feeling unaccomplished. Every piece of the Trust has a unique importance, including office staff, managerial staff, volunteers, partnership organizations, and donors. I encourage every individual who feels compelled by the enigma of the human-primate interaction on the south coast to take up whatever role their capacity will allow. My university has been sending students to work with the Colobus Trust for many years, and I realize now why our relationship has remained strong. The Colobus Trust serves not only as a voice, but also as a set of hard-working hands for threatened primates here and around the globe. Jacob Colobologist
This is our first blog entry for a while as our old Assistant Manager, Paul, left to further his education leaving us without a knowledgable blogger. But now I have learnt the way of the blog, I can take over. Firstly, however, I would like to introduce myself. I am Gwili, the new Assistant Manager, I have returned to Diani after spending 3 months here, as a Colobologist, in 2004. I come from the UK, have recently completed a degree in Zoology, and arrived here just over a week ago. Since the last time I was here much has changed and much has not. The trust has a lovely new location with much better facilities, but the forest has continued to disappear and the threats of electrocution and the road are still claiming many lives. Since my arrival a lot has happened. On the positive side we have represented our cause at the Diani Goat Derby, applied for funding for a Colobus Tuk-Tuk and continued the weekly activities (such as the trimming of trees around the power lines) which are so vital to the survival of the wildlife. But as with any story, there are some sad parts. We sadly lost 3 Colobus in one day, two were lost to the power lines and one to what we can only assume was old age, and just this morning we learnt of a house that is to be built on the outskirts of the Mijikenda sacred forest, Kaya Ukunda. This is terrible news as it is exactly where we had started to build a small centre for the guardians of the forest. But, as ever, we are hopeful. There is much to be done, taught and learnt and through this work we hope we can save this beautiful habitat from disappearing from Diani. Because, lets face it, there are few places where you can stay in such luxury with such that you can enjoy a cold beer in a swimming pool overlooking the reef and watch these amazing monkeys doing the same. That is, if you replace the pool with a baobab tree and the beer with some nice fresh leaves! Gwili Gibbon
Since last month, we have been moving from one place to another. Now we are already settling in in our new property and everyone loves it. In this site we have two troops of colobus monkeys, one troop of sykes monkeys and a weekly visit by a troop of yellow baboons. It’s quite nice to atlast settle up in our new plot though being on rent. We are still trying to raise money to buy our own plot somewhere in Diani. This depends on well wishers and donations. So, you can help us buy a plot. Just visit our website and you can donate. Anyway, our blog site is now up and running and we will keep you informed of the progress of the Trust. Thanks for all your support. Paul G. |
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The Colobus Trust was established in Diani Beach, Kenya, in 1997 to save the endangered Angolan colobus monkey which was a frequent victim of roadkills. The Trust's trademark is Colobridges - bridges over the roads for save overpass. Gwili, a Welsh volunteer at the Trust reports on the day to day activities in an busy local primate conservation charity 
